Joe Thornton gets a “maintenance” day and updates on who is and isn’t skating among injured

Other than the fact Joe Thornton skipped practice as a “maintenance day,” not too much worthy of note today.

No, Todd McLellan would not disclose exactly what part of Joe’s anatomy needed maintenance. Yes, there’s no doubt he’ll be in the lineup tomorrow night against Colorado.

Joe Pavelski did skate more than an hour with his teammates, filling in for Thornton between Dany Heatley and Ryane Clowe. But neither Pavelski nor his coach indicated he was getting close for game action. “Conditioning” still an issue, said Pavelski, who added that his foot has not completely healed yet, though the ongoing skating hasn’t done any damage and all is progressing well.

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Ryane Vesce also practiced, though not as long as his teammates or Pavelski. Afterward, Vesce said it felt better out on the ice, but he, too isn’t ready to go. Neither Setoguchi nor Mitchell skated.

All four players are expected to make the road trip that begins with Saturday’s flight to Carolina, but that’s primarily so they can practice with the larger group, not because any are likely to see action against the Hurricane, Blue Jackets or Red Wings. Too soon to rule that out completely, but McLellan wasn’t too encouraging. He said Mitchell was the least likely to play, but didn’t differentiate among the other three as which might be the most likely to play.

***Like some of you, I also saw the sequence last night where it appeared that Dan Boyle was taking a stick away from a Kings’ player. Turns out it wasn’t exactly as it might have appeared.

“That was my stick,” Boyle said, explaining that the Los Angeles skater had taken the stick away from him and he was just trying to get it back. Which he did.

***A couple of quick factoids. Thomas Greiss’s 37 saves were the most by a Sharks goalie in a victory since Evgeni Nabokov reached the 40 mark in a 4-3 victory over Colorado on Nov. 15, 2006.
And Patrick Marleau set a new franchise record for fewest games needed to reach the 10-goal mark, accomplishing that last night in game 13; the previous mark was 16 games, set by Owen Nolan in 1999.

***Jason Demers is still living in the downtown San Jose hotel the Sharks use for players during training camp, when they’re call-ups from Worcester or arrive in mid-season trades. But Demers isn’t complaining.

“I’ll take the hotel room over an apartment in Worcester,” he said.

David Pollak

David Pollak has been following the NHL forever and at the Mercury News as an editor or reporter since 1987. For almost a decade he wrote about the Sharks as the paper's Fan in the Stands before joining the sports department in 2001. He became the Sharks beat writer before the 2007-08 season and began this blog at that time. You can also follow him on Twitter at @PollakOnSharks.

I had to fact check my self and i was wrong if you take it back to the last goal he scored last season its been 21 games since his last goal tying his worst scoring drought

WI JP

Shark Bit

Boo!

Next time you will try harder.

David Pollak

eastcoastfan,

Saturday appears to be strictly a travel day for the Sharks — no practice either in San Jose or Raleigh, which makes sense considering they play Friday night and the length of the flight.

David

Jutout

Great post, DP.

Now,…if you run into Randy Hahn, could you please let him know to keep his mouth shut when the fans at HP are cheering and singing like they did last night?

Us, who didn’t make it to the game, would love to hear some of the atmosphere without being interrupted by someone who loves to hear himself talk especially when you have it on surround sound.

Thanks much, DP.

larry

Jutout,

People who get NHL Center Ice were “treated” to the Kings broadcast through NHL, where half the time BOTH announcers are talking. We didn’t hear any of the Shark fans cheering, just LA motormouths. I really missed Randy and the vivacious Drew.

GP

Dave Silva,

Clowe’s only played acceptable in the last 6 games IMO. The balance from game one, that is what caused all the concern in the first place.

Dave, you should know me better, I’m not defending Clowe…I don’t need to. This coach knows what Clowe is doing and not doing. I’m just questioning you on your idea and how much importance you’re placing on one player to score a goal. Almost like the regular season actually means something. It contrasts to me because I notice what else he’s doing in attempt to help the team win a game. The individual’s stats do NOT tell the whole picture about how he’s playing. Even with that, for only showing up in six, those stats aren’t that bad over 13 early in the season.

If he’s getting 2 shots a game so far, I don’t think that’s a bad avg for a grinder. I don’t know the avg shots per game for an NHL player. But, for all 700ish, that is probably more than the avg so far. I am guessing most of his SOGs are in the last half dozen games.

I’m not going to give just one more game for him to pick it up or else. Besides, San Jose has enough bodies, if he was playing that badly, the coach would figure out something else — giving a rookie a chance on the shuttle. If anyone think he’s suiting up because of injuries is BS.

So, all the comments by others defending, because he scored in SO, as clutch as it was, and I’ve said MULTIPLE times, isn’t good enough to say he’s back and out of the slump. But commenting the other direction bashing his overall play because he hasn’t scored in reg/ot, that is just as bad.

“How’s he helping?”

Actually, I’ve explained that quite a bit over the last few days. “How is he not helping?” is the better question. Obviously 0G, 2A in the stats proves it hasn’t been there for him, but in the corners, on the boards, the PK, defensively, with sticks in passing lanes. Teams get wins and points when players pay attention to the details. There is so much more EVERY player MUST do for a team to win hockey games beside goals and assists.

The coaches know. He knows too. I’ll trust that. I’ll not yet get excited over current improved performance. But I can see the guy is working hard on the ice the last few games.

NB Finfan

FWIW I want to get my 2 pennies in on Ryane Clowe. I have always liked the way he plays and what he does out there. For whatever reason the first time I really paid attention to the way he skates was earlier this summer when the NHL network ran “A Day in the Life” show on him. I was thinking wow he looks like Godzilla in skates. So I think he has always skated this way.

When this season started he was noticabley slower. Perhaps the league is a little faster this year, perhaps he has a little extra weight. I think he is looking much better recently too. I also think he is trying too hard to justify himself right now.

My opinion, things are trending in the right direction. Getting that SO goal last night should be the start of more good things to come.

GP

Dave Silva,

You should be ashamed at least a little bit. You mislead us all IMO.

You said only 25 hits in 13 games. That puts him tied with a few players on the top half of 2nd page at NHL.com.

Clowe is 3rd on the team with “Hits.” Only Murray and Nichol are ahead of him for the Sharks.

As far as goals, have you seen some of the other names that DON’T have any goals?

I wonder if he’s doing anything else besides getting a few goals. If you look at the Red Wings record, maybe not.

Kyle

It’s a little harsh to accuse Randy Hahn of loving to hear himself talk. He’s paid to talk. So is Drew.

NickG

#58 – LOL, I’m glad I’m not the only one to see that.

http://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/ Näslund

Larry, right on, I couldnt hear crap besides those LA dudes, even with the surround sound on, it was great to hear BEAT LA all night, those guys were getting irritated haha. It seemed as if they had their audio purposely turned way up, when they announce at Staples you can hear everything, Im thinking its just the tanks audio. The Staples broadcasts must have alot more mics placed around, even when the boys are announcing from the tank I can hear the crowd but not board play, players, body checks etc like staples…

—–

Ahhh now I know why Blake keeps getting burned out there, the “C” causes aerodynamic issues, thanks for clearing that up guys…

Worcester Sharks STH

Note – a Factoid is somethng that is NOT true but many think is true or is presented as true.

Topcat

re: Patty this year…people may not want to hear this, but having gone thru new babies myself, I suspect that getting married then dealing with a new baby 2(?) years ago took its toll on his rest, and of course perhaps his focus in life. The first kid is the hardest (no sleep). Then last spring, another baby. Now that his kids are a bit older, combined with the removed pressure of being captain, are not trivial when it comes to his improved performance this year (and most of last). He just has more confidence this year. Even last year, with the 39 goals, he was still giving the puck away alot on poor passes, etc..Not this year..he is battling for every puck. Of course, there may also be the Ron Wilson replacement affect.

Trolliller

Patty > Heater

WI JP

I too was “treated” to the LA announcers. Kind of an obnoxious duo, their team bias aside. (Love that HD, though.)

Didn’t know that Kopitar was the leading scorer in the NHL, until they announced it 20-30 times.

SocalSharkie

WI JP, I live in SoCal. The Kings annoucers are 10 times ‘better’ than the Ducks one. I had to turn off the sound a few times since CI is blacked out whenever we play at the duck pond.

GP, you are way more patient and thorough about Clowe. Thanks. I think it is important for all of us to keep a more even temperament and also to see the ‘whole’ game and not just stats. The only stats that is telling is +-. In the 1st 6 game or so he was losing battles and giving away the puck. He has been winning more of those battles. In the Kings game the top line finally has some sustained pressure which is the key. Joe’s line don’t usually score on a rush.

homer

I know it’s early in the season, but is anyone else getting great enjoyment looking at where the Ducks and Wings are in the standings?

It sure makes the Sharks’ rocky start look pretty good.

Stevo

#61 – I guess that explains why CNN latched onto it.

Stevo

Homer – I’m with you. Very happy with DET’s start. I am, however, not surprised with ANA. They lost some heart and soul over the summer. How about BOS?

On the flip side, I’m just hoping we cool COL off tonight. It will hopefully be the start of their slide back to the middle of the WC pack.

As early season games go, this is a big one.

Marko

thanks for the update!
keep them coming!

Andrew

Why are people still having trouble with the ‘get the injuries out of the way now’ concept? Isn’t it obvious that what people are thinking is “*IF* we’re going to have injuries, better they happen now than later”? Moreover, statistically speaking, if teams tend to average X number of injuries over the course of a season, having more injuries now doesn’t guarantee anything, but statistically suggests that you’ll have fewer later.

Actually, you could make an argument for a direct correlation: when you’re injured, you’re not playing, your body isn’t enduring the same repetitive stress, and as such is that much healthier later in the season. Call it the Agassi Effect: a big reason why he stayed competitive into his mid-30s is that he essentially did not play for several years in his mid-to-late 20s, and as such was physically fresher and less worn down when he rededicated himself at a later time.

Evilducks

I live in SoCal, so I have to listen to the Kings announcers whenever we play them. Honestly they’re fairly decent and at least knowledgeable about the game. They’re homers sure, but so are Randy and Drew. I actually like those guys because they always give fairly glowing reviews of the Sharks. Really, think of it like listening to Drew describe other teams. You’d think the Sharks have won the Cup for the last 7 years the way they go on about them half the time. The kings also have an awesome video team, especially at their home games. Some of the high speed HD cameras they have give some amazing slo-mo replays (you often see Heaters first goal for us in slow motion).

I will admit I did laugh when in the beginning of the broadcast they praised how loud the Tank and it’s fans were (though they tried to blame it on the design more than the actual fans) and by the end of the night they were complaining about hearing the ‘beat LA’ chant for the 15th time. I gotta say, it’s a better chant than ‘lets go sha-arks’… stupid two syllables in a one syllable word.

In contrast, the Ducks have possibly the worst broadcast team on the planet. Their color guy spends the whole night crying about how the Ducks get called for penalties when they break the rules and how they should just let them play, but when another team breaks the rules he’ll go on for 10 minutes and show replays of it if it doesn’t get called. Brian Hayward should be banned from broadcasting.

Stevo

Injuries just happen when they happen – Yogi Berra

Stevo

I believe Anderson is going for the NHL record for most wins in one month tonight, and the Sharks are the only thing standing in his way.

jlsj

I think it is funny that people believe that having a letter stitched on your shirt can make you play worse. Well that seems to be the argument since many try and connect his huge start to the absence of the C. It is not like the letter itself physically weighs 10 lbs and weighs him down. This is my theory.

First of all the physical and emptional stress of always worrying about and caring for toddlers. Maybe as they are getting older it is getting easier for him. He is not as worried about his family at home alone while he is out on the road.

Second of all, Patty seems to be healthy and in great shape. Obivously a huge difference can be seen from a tired, beaten-up, and injured Patty right before and during the playoffs to a healthy, fit and rested Patty at the beginning of the season.

Another contribtuing factor can be that Patty is playing on our second line so he is not being matched up against the opponents shut-down unit that they use against our top line.

Honestly, are we really going to start saying that Blake is having a slow start becuase the C is weighing him down??? Blake is having a slow start becuase he is older and slower….no offense just truth. It seems like the change in captaincy was for more experience and leadership and to be more vocal during practice and games.

GP

Thanks SocalSharkie for recognizing that.

I did find some stats at NHL.com that breaks out the game by game stats. My
quick browsing and addition/counting skills has him better over the last 6 games than the first 7. Most columns were actually empty in the 1st 7 for Clowe.

And, anyone that has played team sports, which I have most of my life, understands the dynamics of skill and performance and how it is spread throughout the team and why. I know these guys get paid to play, but I can’t believe that differences are huge when the puck drops — they are all getting paid.

dbay

Marleau being in a contract year does come into play. Look at Clowe last year vs. this year. Its all to common.

Let’s see what happens. If he signs below market value the point holds less value.

SactoShark

At his point… $7 million is below market for Patty.

L

#77-I agree, we will be lucky if we get to keep him. I’ll bet a lot of coaches have their eyes on him, especially with his stellar play and work ethic!

Andrew

#74 – jlsj: It’s all very nice to boil the captaincy down to “a letter stitched on your shirt,” but those who have actually played sports at a decently competitive know that being looked to as THE MAIN leader is something that fits individuals differently. Some thrive, some shrivel. Marleau is not a vocal guy. By nature, he is quiet, shy and seemingly introverted. Why is it not immediately evident that putting such a personality into the role of your team’s leader can result in enormous loads of pressure that – in a figurative sense – weigh them down far more than 10lbs ever could?

As I noted below, I wouldn’t attribute his fast start entirely to the lack of Captaincy (I’d already mentioned the contract year, the second line, etc..), but do I think it’s a considerable part of the equation? Absolutely. A player raising their level after being deprived of the pressure inherent to the “letter stitched on your shirt” is not unheard of by any stretch of the imagination.

jlsj

Many argue that the stress of being captain has “weighed down” Patty. I believe that if it did weight him down that over his years as captain, being constantly knocked out of the PO would start to weigh on him more and more. So theoretically, the more and more we got knocked out early, and the more that pressure from fans and management started to take a toll on him, we should have seen a steady decline in his production over the years as the early exits piled up. That just isnt the case. Other than the year he was constantly sparring with RW, his numbers have been consistently the same. 02-04=57 pts each
05,06,08 =86,78,71 respectively. Those numbers are relatively close. I dont see much drop off form the pressure in his stats.

RoadRash

If DW plans on signing Marleau to a new contract, he should already be on the phone to Patty’s agent. PM is a very skilled two way player and would attract some very big offers as an UFA. It’s better to lock him up now rather than wait until the end of the season when the prospect that he may be imminently moving his family impacts his game play.

L

#81- Good Point! I hope DW reads this stuff!

Robert

OK with Filppula down in Detroit we seriously need to turn it on as our biggest threat in the West is losing a air in their tires almost daily. sure hope the guys put COL back in check tonight!

Andrew

#80 – jlsj: This is all theoretical, of course, but the reason everyone is paying attention to the “C” status is that he’s having a breakout year. Obviously, it’s still too early to make any statements or predictions, but if, hypothetically, he winds up having yet another career year – after years of consistent though not perhaps brilliant performances – would the removal of the C strike you as a valid factor?

Raydog

Official Sharks site has Mitchell on the active roster and Pavs on IR. What’s up with that?

GP

Mitchell’s status needs to be updated somewhere. After a min 10-games, he either needs to placed on another 10 game LTIR, a longer term, become active, or be sent to Worchester for conditioning.

If he’s active, he can play as soon as ready.

I would think that Pavs was placed on LTIR – 10 gamer and probably retroactive to accomplish 2 things: salary cap and the eliminate the need for a roster move to Woosta since Seto and Vesce haven’t been moved to an IR list.

Raydog

That makes good sense. Thanks GP!

Tano

WI JP says:
October 30th, 2009 at 8:06 am

“Didn’t know that Kopitar was the leading scorer in the NHL, until they announced it 20-30 times.”

Give the kid a break WI JP, he is from Slovenia, it is probably the best news the Slovenians have had in the last 500 years. Probably the best news for the next 500 too. I guess he will be made president as soon as his hockey career is over.

Andrew

Yeah, except for that whole “independence” thing they had going on in 1991. 😉

NB Finfan

Raydog – I am glad you asked and got an answer. I asked the same question. See #26. Oh well a late response is better than none at all.

nonamefan

NB Finfan,

And somebody asked last thread, and the thread before that, and once before that. GP is just repeating the answer that has already been explained over and over. I would guess that most people reading the comments tend to ignore the posts like that one or “Any updates on Pavelski?” because it’s been beaten to death already.

GP

NB Fin,

I actually though you answered your own question in #26 well enough. I am surprised no one else chimed in with your conclusion.

NB Finfan

I guess it is a matter of technicallity with people as anal as I, I know there is no updates coming on Pavs and Mitch’s return.

What Raydog and I are asking is… we never saw any mention that Pavs went on IR or Mitch came off, although Mitch is a foregone conclusion he was coming off on 10/24. 10/24 came and went and there is no official word on who is on or off the IR. Thats it.

Let me rephrase, I did not see any offical word printed anywhere so I was fishing to find out if I missed it somewhere.

NB Finfan

Last!!!

Evilducks

Mitchell is on LTIR and won’t be off of it until the day he joins the big club (or gets sent on a conditioning assignment in the AHL). The website is just wrong, let it go.

They won’t take him off IR until the first game he plays because each day he remains on LTIR is another day his salary doesn’t count against the cap.